MANHATTAN, Kan. – On Monday afternoon the USTFCCCA announced the 10 semifinalists for The Bowerman, and K-State senior Erik Kynard is on the list. After being on the official Watch List throughout the season, Kynard was named to the final list of 10 before The Bowerman Selection Committee narrows the field down to three finalists on July 10.

Kynard finished second in his final meet for K-State at the NCAA Championships earlier this month falling to Indiana’s Derek Drouin in another exciting high jump battle.

His senior season was filled with highlights as he became the first men’s high jumper to win three straight outdoor Big 12 Championship titles in his event. He broke the Big 12 Indoor Championship meet record with a leap of 2.31 meters (7-07.00). Kynard raised the bar on his own school record outdoors as he leapt 2.36 meters (7-08.75) to finish second at the prestigious Prefontaine Classic. He finished behind Olympic bronze medalist Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar and bested Drouin on misses as the two rivals both cleared 2.36 meters to rank second in collegiate history. This outdoor season, Kynard averaged 2.31 meters to show an incredible amount of consistently high performances.

During his final home meet as a Wildcat, Kynard cleared 2.26 meters (7-05.00) to set a new R.V. Christian Track Complex facility record, ensuring he ended his career at K-State holding school records and facility records both indoors and out.

Kynard, who recently signed with Nike, will attempt to win his first USA Track & Field Championship this weekend in Des Moines, Iowa. The USATF Championships are set to begin Thursday and the men’s high jump is slated for Sunday at 1:45 p.m. from Drake Stadium. Tickets are on sale now for the meet at usatf.org, which will also feature the USATF Junior Championships beginning Wednesday.

The 10 semifinalists accounted for 10 championships at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore. The Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC all had three men named semifinalists for collegiate track and field’s most prestigious award. The Big Ten Conference had one named to the list.

After the committee announces its three finalists on July 10, voting will being, and will include an online fan vote as well. The USTFCCCA will announce the female semifinalists on Tuesday.

The Bowerman honors former University of Oregon head coach Bill Bowerman and has been awarded to the top collegiate track and field student-athlete since 2009 and is considered the Heisman Trophy of track and field. In addition to his history of success at Oregon, Bowerman was instrumental in helping establish the system of autonomous federations to control individual sports in the United States today and also is credited with helping fuel the jogging craze in America during the 1970’s. Bowerman was a cofounder of Nike and is most recognized within the company for his creation of the waffle sole by pouring rubber on a waffle iron.